Real time PCR machine

加拿大的水生环境变化很大。温度、盐度、二氧化碳和氧气水平在空间上(从一个地方到另一个地方)和时间上(从小时到天，以及跨季节)都有所不同。这项提议支持的研究试图了解鱼类如何应对这种环境变化。特别是，我们的目标是了解物种之间或物种内个体之间的遗传差异如何转化为容忍环境变化的能力的差异。因此，这项研究解决了当今生物学家面临的最根本的挑战之一：发展对遗传变异和表型变异(或生物体可观察特征的变异)之间的联系的理解。除了提供基本的见解外，这项研究在水产养殖和渔业中也有相当大的实际应用。在水产养殖中，了解导致环境变化的基因可以帮助养鱼户选择最好的动物作为他们养殖场的牲畜。在渔业中，它可能有助于识别对环境压力特别敏感或对环境压力具有弹性的个人或种群，这可能有助于放养或缓解计划。进行这项研究所需的两个关键步骤是确定动物的基因型，并通过分析基因表达(基因打开或关闭的程度)在分子水平上评估其表型。这两种类型的分析都可以使用实时PCR机进行，这是我们所要求的仪器。该仪器将由UBC的大量科学家使用，包括本科生、研究生和博士后研究员在内的各级实习生。因此，该仪器将为广泛的学生提供关于分子生物学重要技术的宝贵培训，并使具有基础和实际重要性的研究成为可能。

Canadian aquatic environments are highly variable. Temperature, salinity, carbon dioxide and oxygen levels all vary both in space (from one place to another) and in time (at scales from hours, to days, and across seasons). The research to be supported by this proposal seeks to understand how fish cope with this environmental variation. In particular, we aim to understand how genetic differences among species or among individuals within a species are translated into differences in the ability to tolerate environmental change. Thus this research addresses one of the most fundamental challenges facing biologists today: developing an understanding of the links between genetic variation and phenotypic variation (or variation in the observable characteristics of organisms). As well as providing fundamental insights, this research also has considerable practical applications in aquaculture and fisheries. In aquaculture, understanding the genes that contribute to variation in the response to the environment can help fish farmers to select the best animals to use as stock in their farms. In fisheries, it may help identify individuals or populations that are particularly sensitive to or resilient in the face of environmental stress, which may be helpful in stocking or mitigation programs. Two critical steps that are required to perform this research are to determine the genotype of the animal and to assess its phenotype at the molecular level through the analysis of gene expression (the extent to which genes are turned on or off). Both of these types of analyses can be performed using a real-time PCR machine, the instrument that we are requesting. This instrument will be used by a large number of scientists at UBC, including trainees at all levels including undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Thus, this instrument will provide invaluable training in an important technique in molecular biology for a wide range of students, as well as enabling research that is both of fundamental and practical importance.